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HOW TO BUILD 



— A — 



SILO. 



WRITTEN FOR 



The Farmers' Review, 



By JOHN GOULD. 

T ^ — 




CHICAGO : 
FARMERS' REVIEW. 



Copyrighted by Farmers' Review, 
chicago, ill. 



5 




6 



V,' 



ENSILAGE AND SILOS. 

;- WRITTEN P"OR THE FARMERS* REVIEW, 

BY JOHN GOULD. 

The discussion of the ensilage problem, the adoption of the 
system by tens of thousands of farmers all over not only this coun- 
try, but England, France, and other foreign countries, not omitting 
far-away Australia, and the overwhelming testimony in its favor 
wherever it has been intelligently adopted and practiced, has been a 
marked feature of the new agriculture of the past six years. The 
first few years after the announcement of its discovery, in about 1872, 
saw but little interest in the subject, but within the last six years — 
notably the years 1886-7-8 — no subject has been so fraught with in- 
terest to the farmers as the matter of ensilage. And well it might. 
It was a new promise — a new plan of escape from the uncertainty of 
hay and grass crops for the maintenance of stock, and bringing in 
with high-priced hay the big, cheap maize crop, and with it a place 
of preservation novel in character, it is true, but at the same time 
preserving the crop in its own juices and saps, and giving the animal a 
food in the winter that had qualities corresponding with the standard 
growing foods of summer. The great, luxurious corn crop of 
America has in the past been scarcely more than half appreciated 
and not half utilized. Growing nearly 20,000,000 more acres of corn 
than we have head of horned cattle, we can readily see that this 60,- 
000,000 acres and over of corn fodder plays but little part in the 
maintenance of our live stock, when if preserved in the silo it would 
supply ample roughage for our stock and leave ihe hay crop largely 
as a marketable farm product. Then in the past the science of corn 
growing has been but little understood, and the conditions favorable 
for a big and mature crop were but little better than guesswork. 
Now, thanks to the Farmers' Institutes, the experiment stations, and 
painstaking farmers, — not to forget the Farmers' Review and other 
live farm journals, — the growing of corn is not a matter of luck, but 



4 How TO Build a Silo. 

can be "almost depended upon as a guaranteed certainty. To this 
thousands of farmers in the drouth-stricken territory of the northern 
states can testify, who did not discard " book-learning," but culti- 
vated and cared for their corn on demonstrated principles, and in- 
stead of being compelled to sell their stock or buy feed at high prices, 
put their fodder into the cheaply made siio, and had abundance, 
where, but a few years ago, with the then ideas of farming, destitu- 
tion would have been their fortune. This same lack of knowledge 
in corn growing kept back the growing of corn fodder for a stock ra- 
tion ; for, as usually sown, it failed to have sufficient feeding value to 
make it a crop worth the growing, let alone the labor involved and 
the enormous waste attending its wintering. Not comprehending 
that it is the large, lusty growing stalk of fodder that has the best and 
largest store of nutritious elements, the farmer, to make the stalks 
thin and fine, so the cutter would rapidly consume it, sowed broad- 
cast from two and a half to four bushels of shelled corn per acre 
(from Soto 128 quarts), and as a result obtained a large growth of 
half-developed, immature fodder that by its color did not possess 
even the merits of having " greenness and water," two qualities that 
I'rof. Henry once said were the only value of a certain crop. Then by 
experiment and long investigation it was fo.und that what was true of 
the crop of field corn was just as applicable to the crop of fodder 
corn — that the chief source of its food value was from the sunlight 
and air, and just as these two gifts of nature were disregarded, by 
thick planting to make shade and consequent restricted circulation of 
air, by just so much was the feeding value of the crop impaired. 
Largely through the investigation of Drs. Sturdevant and Goesse- 
mann and Prof. Henry, the feeding value of corn fodder has been 
made comprehensive, and something like correct data made public. 
The results of the experiments of these men, and others along with 
them, was that the value of thickly-sown corn fodder as against fod- 
der sown in drills, using 10 to 12 quarts of seed per acre, was as 
about II to 35, while the weight of fodder on the thinly-planted field 
would, as a rule, equal the former. Then another fact followed — 
that, if the stalk was induced to prow an ear of grain and left to 
mature to the point of theg'azing, it possessed almost equal feeding 
value with the ear ; in other words, the same land produced a double 
crop, and with but little more demand upon the soil, as the starch 
and sugar of the corn, its two most important feeding elements, are 
the gifts of* the sun and not of the soil, and this much has been 
gained. Lastly it has been found by Dr. Goessemann that from the 
appearance of the tassel of the stalk to the commencement of the 
glazing of the ear, the fodder plant exactly doubles its feeding value. 



How TO Build a Silo. 5 

which shows why the farmer who feeds out fodder corn just as it is 
tasseling out sees no beneht from it, and so condemns it as worthless 
without further trial or change in the method of growing it The 
advent of the silo found the farmer sowing corn, if at all, about three 
bushels of seed corn per acre, and, heeding the advice of the at that 
time learned ones, he was induced to make even richer the land, sow 
3'et more corn, and try and get 90 tons of fodder per acre. This crop 
was cut early, rolled into the big stone silo with haste, was covered 
and heavily weighted down, and came out a food that, while cattle 
would eat it, possessed qualities that one now wonders why the whole 
system was not wrecked and abandoned — a matter which will be 
touched upon in a subsequent chapter. Gradually the plan of plant- 
ing corn thinner, as shown, and for valid reasons, came to be more 
and more practiced, and better and better results followed, and Dow 
bed rock has been touched in the matter by drilling in from 8 to 12 
quarts per acre in drills 3^ to 3^4^ feet apart, dropping the grain from 
5 to 6 inches apart in the rows. This gives the cornstalk room in 
which to grow and develop and receive the "heat and energy of the 
sun," and consequent food value, as no dwarfed crowded stalk can. 
The best known way to make the fodder corn what we would have it 
is to plant the best varieties about twice as thick as field corn. Plow, 
plant, and cultivate the same as field corn ; cultivate shallow, very, so 
as not to disturb the roots, for every root cut off either dwarfs the crop 
or delays its maturing, and at last when the stalks are developed, the 
ears passing out of the milky stage, then the Aork of filling the silo 
commences. Just what we shall plant for ensilage corn is a matter 
not fully decided. Latitude has much to do with it. The most popu- 
lar variety is the " B. & W." brand of southern corn from the tide 
waters of Virginia, known there as " two-eared white." Its greatest 
value is its drouth-resisting powers, although it is unsurpas-ed for 
luxuriance of foliage and weight of fodder per acre. In the north it 
is not disposed to ear if planted very thickly. Not over ten quarts 
of seed per acie should be used of this variety if grain is wanted or 
expected. Its strong vitality enables it to be early planted, and by 
September 10 it is ready for the silo, and often with a burden of grain 
that is surprising. Over against this are the more lusty-growing 
kinds of Northern Dent corn. By some it is claimed that this latter, 
in the north, is the best for the silo, but the claims are in dispute. 
In localities where there is less than 100 days of corn weather, it is 
presumable that the quicker growing kinds are best, but where 120 
days can be safely counted upon the southern corn will always be a 
favorite, if for no other reason than of its power to grow right along 
in dry seasons, when other corn makes but inferior growth. The ad- 



6 How TO Build a Silo. 

vent of diversified machinery enables a farmer to do all the work of 
preparation, planting, and culture of corn by horse power, and so 
makes ensilage growing on a large scale possible and at minimum 
cost, and now the silo, built of wood, located where it is the most 
handy for economic feeding, and put up at small cost, and, what is 
better, a knowledge of how to put up the ensilage so it shall possess 
desirable qualities, — the sweet, or, a better term, ripened silage, in- 
stead of the rank acid of the past, — opens up a yet new chapter of 
this subject that can not fail to interest the farmer who desires a cheap 
and abundant ration to go with the hay, clover, and straw of the farm, 
and give new life as well to animal husbandry. 

SILO BUILDING. 

The radical changes that have taken place in silo building have 
had the effect of making the system more popular than any other one 
feature connected with it. The silo, built of stone, was at first costly, 
and besides involved much heavy labor and the results never were 
quite satisfactory, much less so when the plan of making sweet or 
ripened silage was brought out. The stone silo failed in doing its 
part, as the stone walls would prevent the silage from heating up 
along the sides, and then, being a good conductor of cold, frost 
readily entered, and complaint of more or less damaged ensilage was 
reported which caused Prof. Henry more than a year ago to say : 
" Don't build silos of stone under any circumstances, especially in 
cold latitudes. If you do, line up on the inside with wood to make 
an air space ;" advice that the future will demonstrate to be sound. 
Then, over large areas, stone is a hard material to find, and to be ob- 
liged to build the stone silo would make them very costly, and confine 
their use to the more wealthy class of farmers. The substitution of 
wood, makes the silo a feature that every farmer can adopt, as lumber 
can be had anywhere, and it is being found out that the best qualities 
of lumber are not needed, or expensive flooring for inside ceilings, 
simply good fair eight-inch, or foot wide lumber, and good, sound 
2x8, or lo-inch studding. Durability is given the lumber by applica- 
tions of water-proof substances. Probably the cheapest and most 
lasting, is applications of boiling hot coal-tar, in which some resin has 
been dissolved to give it a solid body when cold, or a like coating of 
boiling pitch, both easily procured and cheaply applied. Last season 
many silos were built and the interior finished by lath and plastering, 
using cement instead of white lime for the plaster. This makes a 
nice silo, if the walls are solid enough to prevent springing and 
cracking the plaster. A few were lined up inside with brick, but the 



How TO Build a Silo. 7 

same objection that is met with in stone walls is encountered. The 
fact that about five times more fodder can be put into a silo than can 
be put into the same space by drying the same material has led to the 
building of hundreds of silos inside the barns, using part of the big 
bay. This saves the outside covering of the silo and the roof, the 
barn furnishing both. The silo usually starts from the earth, as it is 
sometimes difficult to get the upper floor of a barn solid enough for 
the foundations of a silo ; but the ground never falls through. The 
later ideas of silos and silo filling enable one to build the silo of far 
greater depth than was possible with former methods and half grown 
silage ; so now the wooden silo, 25 feet in depth, is no disadvantage 
but rather an advantage, for the greater the depth of material in the 




^^ 



pits the greater the pressure and the better keeping merits of the 
silo. The chief idea to be carried out is to make the walls air-tight, 
and no material so good and withal cheap and effective has been dis- 
co/ered as two thicknesses of inch boards with a sheet of tarred 
paper between them, the three nailed securely to up and down stud- 
ding and well painted with some sort of water proof. Nor is the 
timber, grout or stone floor essential. Nothing is better than clay 
well pounded down in the bottom of the silo, letting it come up a few 
inches against the inside walls of the silo so as to give the bottom or 
floor a slightly concave form. The sprinkling of a slight layer of 
straw on the bottom to prevent the silage coming in direct contact 



8 How TO Build a Silo. 

with the clay might be indulged in, but would be more a matter of 
fancy than profit. The building of above ground wobden silos pre- 
supposes that due precautions have been taken against the encroach- 
ments of surface water, and this item is also in the way of better pre- 
servation of the foundation timbers of the frame. This much in a 
general way, and to a better understanding of the diagrams which are 
given, with the hopes of a clearer view of the written letter press 
that accompanies them Just how much a silo will cost depends 




-^£7 



ivholly upon labor, cost of material, and work of preparation, but in a 
general way, the silo in the barn will cost from 50 to 65 cents per ton, 
storage capacity, and if built outside as a separate building, with roof 
and the like complete, it will be somewhere from $1 to $1.50 per ton, 
according to the fancy of the builder. 

Fig. I is a handy way to build when a foundation is required, as 
the bottom of the trench makes protection from the surface water. 



How TO Build a Silo. g 

M shows the two thicknesses of inch boards inside ; put on with a 
half width lap to prevent cracks from coming over each other. The 
tarred paper is between these boards, the whole firmly nailed to the 
studding F. Matched lumber is not necessary, as there are no join- 
ing cracks, and the paper makes the two practically one board. The 
joints should be made tight ; then, when either painted or coated 
with pitch all has been done that can be for making a tight wall. E 
is the clay, thrown up a few inches against the sides, which prevents 
the air from coming in from under the boards. K is the floor of the 
silo. The studding, D, is supposed to be set i6 to i8 inches apart, 




not fully shown in the diagram. L is the outside boarding of silo if 
built outside, but the inbarn silo needs no cover, as the idea of need- 
ing an absolute air space is now deemed unnecessary, as the silage is 
its own best protection, i^ shows how studding should be cut to fit 
out sill, and go down inside the wall on which to nail lining M. Fig. 
2 shows the biiilding of a silo without a stone foundation. The sill, 
a, is bedded into a layer of cement, g, the cross sills, 7% 3 x 6 inch 
stuff laid flat, are morticed into the sill a at the lower side and cross 
the silo, and go into the sill opposite ; the object is to prevent the 
spreading of the silo, by the pressure caused by the settling silage, a 



lO 



How TO Build a Silo. 



feature that is prevented by the stone wall in Fig. i, as it is seen that 
the floor of the silo in Fig. i is fully a foot below the outside soil at 
a. Fig. 3 goes more into detail for the building of a silo to make 
secure corners. This is essential, for there is great strain upon the 
corners, and the pulling apart of the corners must be avoided. The 
corner a is made by using three scantlings, the center one, a, 4x4, 
and two side ones as depicted in side diagram, L. The first lining 
boards are notched at the ends, as shown at BB, so that they can be 
crossed and nailed as in Z ; they are also nailed well to MM. This 
makes a corner that cannot be pulled apart. The second lining 
boards are simply cut with square ends, and nailed through the paper 




and the first lining board to the scantlings MM. EE are the cross- 
tie sills, the same as shown in Fig. 2. c is a groove in walls for 
holding ends of partition plank, as the building of the partitions 
solid of 2 X 4's and double boarding is not now considered essential. 
Foot-wide planks with true edges held in place by grooves, as shown 
at c, the latter made of 2x4 with one corner milled down to make it 
three cornered, and nailed to the walls, makes a satisfactory parti- 
tion, one that can be put in or removed as required in filling or feed- 
ing out the silage. G is the door of the silo. This is made by 
sawing out a doorway thirty-two inches wide and ten feet long. 



How TO Build a Silo. 



ir 



Cleats are nailed up and down on the sides of studding HH on the 
outside of the lining- boards. The boards i, 2, 3 etc , are returned to 
their places and slightly fastened. This makes the inside wall solid 
again, with no "jog." When the silo is being filled, two strips of 
tarred paper, lapped in the center, are hung over this door on the in- 
side. The silage pressing against it not only holds the boards in 
their place, but the silage against the paper pressing against the 
door makes the cracks air-proof. The rest of the diagram is self-ex- 
planatory. Fig. 4 illus* rates a feature, detailed by a correspondent. 
The silo was built the same as Fig. 2, but instead of using flat cross 
sills to prevent spreading at the bot'om, stout stub posts were set, 




close up to the sills on the outside of the silo, and firmly tamped 
down. The sill was made by spiking two lo-inch planks together in 
L form, and then setting the studding inside the angle thus formed, 
and spiking through the plank into the studding, and saved a mor- 
tice. Fig. 5, with side diagram D, is yet another way of making 
the bottom secure, and is especially adapted to silos inside of barns, 
and those where the ground is "dry." It is simply excavating a 
cellar, one foot deep, as large as the outside measurement of the silo. 
A thin board, g, is set up against the solid dirt, the studding first 
painted with coal tar, then set up the same as in the other structures, 



12 



How TO Build a Sii.o. 



and lined up inside with the same care. The space between, the 
studding, D, is then filled in with grout, as shown at the side, Fig. 
D. This makes a solid foundation, as the board, G, is first removed, 
letting the grout come in contact with the soil, and also encases the 
studding and preserves it as well. The soil on the outside of the 
structure, a, can be made sloping and convey all water away from 
the building. Fig. 6 shows the roof frame for the building. The 
usual depth, i6 feet, makes the silo inclined, when filling, to spread 




at the top, and rods and cross partitions have been adopted to pre- 
vent, but they are always in the way. This style of roof is not only 
self-supporting, but prevents any outward spring of the studding. 
As will be seen, no plate is used. The rafters, rt;, 2 x 8 inch stuff, 
are lapped against the stud, r, at the top, and well spiked with wire 
nails. The under braces, B, are i x8 inch boards crossed and nailed 
strongly to opposite sides of the studding, from the rafters a, a. 
The rafters should be erected on every other one of the studding. 
The letter d represents the roof boarding, and E and c the inside 



How TO Build a Silo. 13 

and outside boarding of the building. At the ends the studding 
should reach up to and be fastened firmly to the end rafters, and this 
prevents end springing of the building. As the length of the silo is 
twice or three times greater than the width, the end pressure is not so 
great in the aggregate, and this will probably be all the precaution 
needed at the ends. 

In the silo discussion many opinions exist in regard to the amount 
of lumber needed for the inside lining, some contending that paper 
first put against the studding, with one thickness of matched flooring 
over it, is ample to make an air-proof wall. In some instances this 
has proved all right for one year, but for most service this is to be put 
to the test. Others failed to give perfect satisfaction, for the reason 
that it is almost impossible to so put the paper on to this studding so 
snugly but v^hat it will "sag" away from the inside boarding and 
make a space between them. Then if any defect occurs in the lum- 
ber bv swelling or shrinkage, there is an inlet for air to be supplied 
by the space made by the " sagging" of the paper This one thick- 
ness of lumber needs be very good with perfect matchings. and costs 
well towards the price that will be paid for the two thicknesses of 
common, unplaned boards, for only one surface needs to be run 
through the planer. It is better to have the face boards planed, as 
the silage settles better along a smooth wall than one with rough sur- 
face. Then the wall with two thicknesses of boards on the inside is 
firmer, and the silo is less liable to spring from the pressure. The 
outside covering may be of any cheap, fair lumber. It is a matter 
of protection to the building, not materially so to the silage, as a pit 
of silage at 85° is its own 'best protection against frost until the ther- 
mometer reaches to 45° below, and the freezing then will be almost 
wholly confined to the surface, and probably will not exceed an inch 
in depth, though it is rare that it will any more than "scale " over 
and never in above zero weather. It is better to dispense wnth any 
filling in between the studding with sawdust, tanbark or chaff to pro* 
tect against frost. The filling only results in inviting the very object 
you are trying to guard against, and when once this filling gets damp 
it is a great injury to the building and had best be left out at the 
start and the air given free circulation between the out and inside 
boarding. The roof, when the frame for it is up. can be covered 
with shingles, but it may be possible that the new steel metal roof, 
that can be bought for about $375 per square of 100 feet, will be 
the cheapest in the end. as there is considerable moisture arising from 
the silo during the filling and during the winter, as the temperature 
of the silage would indicate. As to building the silo in the barn, it 
is a very good plan, if an ordinary 14 x 28 feet pit is wanted, but the 



14 How TO Build a Silo. 

large silo must of necessity be an out-door structure, and, should be 
located to be as handy to the feeding floors as possible. The car- 
riers of the cutters now-a-days puts the silage about where needed so 
the feeding out can be made all, or nearly so, " down hill" work and 
this economizes labor. In all silo building, but little more can be 
given in an article like this than a general idea that is suggestive of 
some plan that can be made readily adapted to the several farm wants. 
The usual form of the silo, is as wide as deep, and twice as long as 
wide. Thus a silo 28 x 14, and 16 feet deep, inside measurement, 
would hold 6,272 cubic feet, or 125 tons of settled silage, each 50 
cubic feet, representing a ton of silage as a rule. The silo may, if 
possible, be built much deeper, and, as said, add value to the system, 
but it is not desirable to make the silo or pits less than about ten feet 
square and twelve deep. The dragging of the silage along the walls 
when settling, is greater in proportion in a small than large pit. The 
small silo has as many corners, and the less the contents of a pit, the 
less pressure by its own weight, which must be overcome by mechan- 
ical means, such as more treading and even weighting. The silo 
inquiries have awakened inventors, and many devices are put forth in 
different patterns, and possibly patents to aid in this matter, and 
several kinds of presses and automatic fixtures to remove or expel the 
.air, all costing money, and more or less engineering to work ihem. 
The later idea of allowing each day's filling of the silage to heat up 
to 125° or about that is the most effectual method of air expelling 
yet found, and costs nothing and does all that is required A firm in 
the northwest now propose to furnish a round silo, a regular staved 
and hooped tank, from 10 to 16 feet in diameter, and 10, 12 and 16 
feet staves. In place of a door, three "man-holes" are devised in 
the side, which fit close and are held secure by a cam lever. The 
merit of this is. that there are no corners, it can be set anywhere, can 
have a *' loose " roof or a permanent one, can be set indoors or out ; 
where it is the most convenient. Mr. John Carswell, near Lone 
Rock, Wis., has a round silo, made by standing up 2 x 4 inch scant- 
ling round a circle and lining up in the inside with two thicknesses 
of thin lumber that springs readily to the form required Tar i^aper 
was put between the boards, and Mr. Carswell regards it as a moJel 
silo. Just what may be in the future, in silo building is uncertain, 
but this is true, that every discovery has been to cheapen building 
and expense, and give a yet better silage, both in value and feeding 
results. 

The filling of the silo has been made the subject of much study 
and experiment, and it would seem by the successes of 1887 and the 
scientific data ootained by Chemist WoU at the Madison, Wisconsin, 



How TO Build a Silo. 15 

Experiment Farm, the past winter, would enable the farmer to fill his 
silo with reasonable expectation of obtaining a fair article of ensilage. 
The system of silo filling has been greatly changed in the past five 
years, notably so in the past two, or modified as the case best stands. 
The later system gives a silage practically free from acid ; especially 
acetic, or vinegar acid ; and in its place ripened, or sweet ensilage, is 
found — a food that now seems to be a fair exchange for summer ra- 
tions, and not greatly, if any, inferior in feeding results. The silo of 
1880 was hastily filled, with material much too thickly sown, and 
harvested for the silo far too early. The resulting silage was of all 
degrees of acidity, and of a kind to which objection was made, and 
probably not without cause. This hasty filling and covering with 
planks and paper, and vast weights of stone, etc., to expel the air, 
was the very agency that imprisoned a fair share of it, and the air, 
uniting with the juices of the corn, charged as they were with sugar, 
etc., ferment of a low order was invited, and. once present could not 
be governed, and the germs that produce acetic acid were developed, 
and the rank, sour ensilage of the past was the result. That this en- 
silage was injurious to the stock has been denied with a good show 
of proof. That the butter and cream from dairies fed on sour ensil- 
age has been uniformly bad is to be doubted. That the greater part 
of it was superior to much that is allowed to pass "official inspection" 
is not denied. This left the matter to be remedied by an improve- 
ment of the system itself. Just how much loss of food value there 
was, is now impossible to say, but the truth is, the silo won in favor, 
and at last, when the process of making sweet or ripened silage was 
announced, the American farmer was ripe for the invention, and 
silos in this country and Europe have multiplied with amazing rapid- 
ity, and it is not a wild guess by any means to predict that 10,000 
will be built in the United States alone, and one-fifth of this number 
in Wisconsin this present year. Some three years ago Professor 
Manly Miles announced that the acetic acid ensilage was caused by 
the system of silo filling itself, which produced the germ of acetic 
acid ferments, that this could be easily overcome by filling the silos 
slowly, giving each day's filling of silage time to heat up to 125 de- 
grees and then adding another layer of fresh cut fodder, and so on ; 
a sweet or ripened silage would result and this heating by its own 
action would not cause any considerable loss of food elements ; the 
germs of ferment would be destroyed by this amount of heat ; that 
the heating and setting would expel the air and there would be no 
liability of the silage taking on a new active acid ferment. This was 
scouted at by the scientists even and laughed at generally, but the 
farmer had money and profits at stake rather than abstract reasoning. 



i6 How TO Build a Silo. 

and he went industriously to work, filling silos by Prof. Miles' plan, 
and it was a success every time when the conditions were carried out. 
The Professor's wisdom was vindicated, and now no one disputes the 
premises with him, and it is now the accepted law of silo rilling to 
insure success. One other point, the heat and air expelling process 
developes a slight per cent, of carbonic acid gas, and what Prof. 
Miles now denominates a ripening process goes on ; in one sense, a 
form of digestion, that partially accounts for the perfect assimilation 
of silage food by the animal. While this form of silage is named 
" sweet," it is hard to find samples but what have an acid smell, this 
Prof. Wall finds to proceed from a trace of lactic acid, usually less 
than one-half of one percent., an amount too insignificant to be 
taken into account. This whole matter of Prof. WoU's chemical 
analysis of silage, not only from the eight state silos at Madison, 
Wis. ,' but others from all over the state, is soon to be made public by 
the Station, and will be a valuable contribution to ensilage literature, 
as it will embody the investigation of nearly two years, and covers a 
thousand or more complete analyses. Then how shall we fill the 
silo to get best results ? The now seeming best way is to let the corn 
fodder stand until fairly matured, the ears passing into the glazing 
stage. Two ways are in vogue in regard to cutting. The one by 
hand, laying the stalks in gavels, or standing them up in shocks to 
be taken to the silo. The other, to cut it with a stout reaper, cutting 
one row at a time. Both plans have their advocates, and would seem 
to be a matter wholly of convenience. The fodder is taken by some 
to the silo the same day that it is cut, others leave it 24 hours or more 
to wilt. This last part can be easily overdone, and the best obtain- 
able authority would indicate the 24 hour plan best, for the best suc- 
cess has been M^ith light wilting. How to draw the fodder is also 
susceptible of much variation. Drawing on drays ; drag poles affixed 
to the forward wheels of a wagon using upright pins in the poles to 
keep the fodder from slipping down ; platform racks on low wagons, 
the fodder being carried up at the rear on a cleated walking plank, 
etc., and many other plans are used, according to the inventive skill 
of the farmer. At the silo the ensilage cutter is placed where best 
suited for delivering the silage into the pits. The attached carrier of 
these machines makes it possible to save much labor by delivering the 
cut silage as near the center of the pits as possible. The cutter 
should be set so as to facilitate quick and handy unloading ; and, if 
possible, without rehandling of the fodder, i. e., the man who takes 
a bundle from the wagon should put it into the machine. In this 
way much labor is saved, and it is now possible for three men even 
to put 15 to 20 tons of silage into the pits in a day aside from the 



How TO Build a Silo. 17 

field cutting. The best power is, of course, a four horse power en- 
gine, and the next best is a high geared-tread power, one that per- 
mits slow walking of the horses and yet maintains high speed. 500 
to 600 revolutions of the knives per minute. The disposal of the 
silage in the pits is not a matter of so much concern or labor as was 
once supposed. The promotion of heat is now to be encouraged, 
and to this end the greater share of the tramping should be done after 
a layer of silage has become hot, and not before. The custom of 
putting horses into the pits is no longer necessary, as the heating and 
slow filling better does ti>is part. The filling in by the carrier causes 
the silage to be highest in the center, and it should be kept only mod- 
erately level by distribution, and quite a " stack" of it should be left 
in the center of the pit at the conclusion of a day's cutting. In the 
process of heating there is no trouble about the center of the pit, but 
the si des and especially the corners are less acted upon, and heat de- 
velopes slower by close proximity to the absorbing walls, especially 
so if they are of stone or cement. When heat has been developed 
and all is ready for the next layer, some of the silage should be 
forked out of the corners and the hot material from this stack in the 
center pitched into its place. This remedies the defect of mouldy 
and often sour silage found in the corners, when the balance of con- 
tents are in No. I order, and arises from this lack of development of 
heat. The usual practice of tramping frequently along the sides and 
especially in the corners during the day to make it settle, is to press 
out the air needed for the quick promoting of heat. When hot it 
can be readily settled down by tramping, and the settling made good 
by additions of silage from the central heap left for this especial pur- 
pose. This filling in every other day continues until the silo is full. 
The partition allows the work to go on without interruption, weather 
permitting, the filling of the silo being alternated. This is the whole 
sec et of making ripened silage : slow filling and developm nt of heat 
to 125 degrees or above, ten degrees more doing no hurt as far as 
known. Need silage fodder be cut before going into the silo? It 
was once supposed necessary, but the past year scores of men filled 
their silos with uncut fodder and report the best of success. Col. I. 
J. Clapp, of Kenosha. Wis., the noted Guernsey breeder, fills his silo 
year after year with whole fodder, and likes the plan so well that a 
large cutter and power stand idle by the side of the silo. The ex- 
perience of Peter Pieffer, of Pewaukee, W^is., in a late Farmers^ 
Revieiv, in filling a silo with bundles of fodder, tied with two bands 
loosely, so they would *' flatten" in laying them in position, and the 
exctrllent character of the silage when taken out of the silo, was val- 
uable in this line. A sample of this whole silage shown by Mr. P. at 



1 8 How TO Build a Silo. ^ 

the Waukesha, Wis., Institute was most excellent. It is possible 
that with a limited number of cattle the plan of making silage from 
whole fodder will be found economic. Its only drawback seems to 
be in taking it from the silo, so compact and pressed together does it 
become. In the concluding work of silo filling a notable change has 
been made, that of discarding the heavy weighting of the past. The 
slow filling and heating has settled the silage about all that can be 
done ; and the air has been expelled and the n ed of the heavy plank- 
ing and weighting does not longer exist. All that needs to be done 
now is to put on a " blanket" that will prevent the escape of the 
heated vapor within and prevent the entrance of air from w thout. 
All that is needed is to cover the surface of the leveled pit, when 
heated to 130 degrees, with tarred paper, and on this throw a thick 
layer of marsh hay, straw or the like, and a few old boards, slabs or 
similar material to hold the straw in place, is all the covering a silo 
needs, a matter fully corroborated the past season. Some discard 
the paper even and put on rowen, green litter or swamp hay to the 
depth of 18 inches, " tuck" it down along the walls with a spade, 
and report no spoiling of the surface, molding or souring so often 
found under plank and paper covers, even if weighted down with 
tons of stone. This is in favor of making the silage still cheaper, as 
the old plan called for an amount of labor on the covers that ap- 
proached to one-half of the filling account. The feeding of the sil- 
age is best done continuously from the top of the silo pit, which is 
easily done by removing the sections ( f the door (seen in diagram) one 
at a time as occasion requires. This keeps the surface of the silage 
" aired " and the feeding progresses faster than any change possible 
in the condition of the silage. It is not a good plan to open the 
door to the bottom and take from the floor, as the air enters the slop- 
ing side of the exposed silage, and reheating is apt to ensue and the 
contents of several silos ruined, or nearly, by this procedure have 
been reported to me. The cover should only be taken off from one 
pit at a time. It is not necessary to put any temporary cover over 
the exposed silage while feeding it out, although in very severe 
weather — say 30 to 50 degrees below zero — it might be well to spread 
an old tarpaulin over the surface to hold the escaping heat and thus 
prevent the slight frosting. This embraces the essential features of 
silo building, filling and feeding out. The success, the profits, the 
praiseworthy features of the system I leave to the hundreds of read- 
ers of the Farmers' Revie^u who own silos and whose testimony 
would be especially valuable. 



How TO Build a Silo. 



19 



[From Farmers' Reviexv, April u, 1888.^ 
EXPERIENCE WITH FODDER CORN AND THE SILO, 

To THE Farmers' Review : For the year 1887 I raised 40 acres 
of corn, consisting of the following varieties : B. & W. ensilage 
corn, 22 acres ; Southern Sweet or Sheeptooth, 7 acres ; Wisconsin 
White Dent, 7 ; Stowel's Evergreen Sweet corn, 4. Feeding com- 
menced for partial soiling (pasture very poor on account of drouth) 
on the 27th of July ; 25^ tons per day of green corn was fed to 95 
cows and heifers, for 11 1 days, amounting to 277 tons. In September 
put into silo 250 tons ; the balance put into shocks, 129 tons ; total, 
656 tons or an average of 16 tons per acre. The silo was opened 
December i and 30 pounds of ensilage per day were fed to each of 
the 90 cows for evening feed, or 2,700 pounds per day, until March 
10 — 100 days — or a total of 135 tons, leaving sufficient ensilage to 
last to May 10. This 30 pounds of ensilage took and well filled the 
place of 10 pounds of hay. Had hay been fed in place of the ensil- 
age for the night's fee 1, it would have required 400 pounds per day 
for the 90 cows, or a total for the 100 days of 45 tons. It would 
have required in 1887, 45 acres of meadow to have produced the hay, 
and if bought or sold would have amounted to $14 per acre. The 
135 tons of ensilage were produced on 8^ acres of land, and had a 
feeding value as compared with hay of $74.11 per acre. The ration 
for each cow this winter has been as follows : Each morning feed, 
at 5 a. m., hay, 2 pounds per cow, after milking, dry corn fodder, 6 
pounds per cow ; mixed with barley straw, cut together, 2 pounds 
per cow ; corn meal and oats mixed, 2 pounds per cow ; evening 
feed, ensilage, 30 pounds per cow ; wheat middlings, 3 pounds per 
cow. Two years' experience goes far to convince me that 2^^ tons 
of ensilage made from mature sweet corn, or so far matured as to 
have roasting ears, is fully equal in feeding value to one ton of good 
hay, and is greatly to be preferred for milch cows, growing calves, 
brood sows and shoats. Experience confirms the opinion that the 
full feeding value of a nearly matured corn crop can be saved with 
less waste in the silo than by any other method known, and the en- 
tire expense of husking, shelling and grinding saved, while ensilage 
, made from nearly matured corn is in better condition to go into a 
cow's stomach than is possible after a separation has been made by 
husking and grinding. Ensilage corn standing 12 to 13 feet high is 
difficult to shock, impossible to stack and impracticable to put in the 
barn ; and to leave in the field it is in the way of fall plowing, which 
good farming demands, and if the corn is hauled off it requires more 
labor than to put it into a silo. The actual cost of a corn crop put 



20 How TO Build a Silo. 

into a silo is often greatly over estimated. The common dairy farmer 
has usually all the men, teams and tools required to handle a corn 
crop for the sil >. The only legitimate charge that should be made 
against a corn crop that goes into the silo is wages paid to the men 
while doing the work. The board of the men is earned in milking 
night and morning, and the teams cost neither less nor more on 
account of the silo. What then is the actual cost of ensilage per ton 
or per acre, or for 40 acres? One man and team will plow 40 acres 
in the fall in 26 working days, wages $18 per month. Two men and 
two teams will in the spring cultivate and prepare the ground for 
planting, do the planting with horse drill, run the smoothing harrows 
and cultivators until June 15 ; wages of men, $90. Eight men will 
cut in the field, haul to the silo and run through the feed cutter and 
pack in the silo 23 tons per day, at an expense of $7.10 per day. To 
recapitulate, for plowing 40 acres, $18.00; planting and cultivating, 
$90; cutting and siloing 656 tons, $288.64; for seed, 50 cents per 
acre, $20; total money expense, $416.64, equal to $10.41 per acre 
and to 69^ cents per ton. If to this should be added use and keep 
of horses, $125 ; interest on 40 acres at $80 per acre, $192 ; use and 
wear of machinery, $25 ; total, $758 64. Entire cost of production, 
$1.1534 per ton. What, then, is the conclusion of the whole matter? 
Simply this, that three cows can be wintered seven months on one 
acre of ensilage producing 16 tons, while it required two acres of 
meadow in 1887 to winter one cow, with the same amount of ground 
feed m both cases It may justly be said that one ton of hay per 
acre is a light crop. It is often doubled. Sixteen tons of ensilage is 
not a large crop ; 24 tons are often obtained. Much has been said 
and written in favor of putting whole corn into the silo instead of 
running it through the feed cutter. There is no doubt of its keeping 
if the air is excluded, which must be done in any case. Second crop 
clover mixed with the whole corn lessens the air spaces and aids the 
work of preservation. Many columns and pages have been written 
to prove that fodder corn is equally as good out of the silo as in it ; 
that ensilage has no more nutriment than it had before going into 
the silo. This statement hardly settles the case. We do not put 
corn into the silo to gain nutriment, but to preserve from waste the 
nourishment already in the same. Argument might be used with 
equal force in the case of firewood. There is no more carbon in the 
wood when it comes out of the woodhouse than when it went in. 
This whole question of the preservation of fodder corn will undoubt- 
edly be settled the same as in the care of firewood One man hauls up 
his corn crop, runs it through the feed cutter, packs it in the silo away 
from all waste, accessible any day in the year He will be likely to 



How TO Build a Silo. 21 



get his firewood and cut it with a buzz saw and split and pile it in the 
woodhouse away from all waste, accessible any day in the year. 
Another man will cut and shock his corn in the field, always in the 
way of fall plowing ; haul it in the winter from day to day as wanted. 
Firewood can as properly be prepared in the same way. Each man 
will have to settle for himself his own method of preserving fodder 
com. The great advantages to be gained in raising fodder corn do 
not entirely depend upon the silo. The crop is a great good in 
itself, however preserved. Experience and observation will eventu- 
ally settle — as it settles all other questions — the most economical 
method of its preservation. Hiram Smith. 

[From Farmers' Review of March 28th, i8S8\ 
EXPERIENCE WITH LONG ENSILAGE. 

[The following communication from a well-known and influential 
citizen of Wisconsin will be of interest to farmers who would like to 
go into ensilage, but are held back on account of the expense involved 
in the outfit for cutting it into the silo It furnishes additional evi- 
dence that good ensilage can be made from whole length corn. Put- 
ting it into the silo bound in bundles is a new idea, but we believe 
a good one, as it does away with the objection to whole ensilage that 
it is hard to get out of the silo. — Ed.] 

To THE Farmers' Review : The undersigned constructed a 
small silo in a cattle barn, after the plan given by Mr. John Gould a 
year ago, and filled it with fodder corn — using the Stowell's evergreen 
— when just large enough for cooking ; cut it and tied in small 
bundles — average height 7 to 8 feet— one day, and drew and put it in 
silo next day — so it was some wilted and it packed very close, same 
as filling a mow with bundles of grain. Always laid bundles length- 
wise with wall and packed corners well. Drew in five loads the first 
day and got ready another cutting, and put in six loads the third day. 
I let it heat up to 124 degrees, and again put in six loads the fifth 
day. Heated up to 130 degrees, put in balance, three loads, the 
seventh day, and finished on the ninth day, when heat was up to 134 
degrees, with two loads of second clover, quite short, all tramped or 
packed down well ; then covered with wheat and oats chaff, about 
12 to 16 inches deep. Opened silo December 20 ; found chaff wet 
and soft on top, and some mouldy, about 2 to 3 inches, but dry and 
hot next to the clover, which came out rather black, but sweet, and 
cattle and horses eat it with a relish. The corn fodder was_ colored 
rather dark, and the ears well cooked, and all soft, but sweet, and 



22 How TO Build a Silo. 



stock eat it with a relish. It proved a lighter color as we got down 
further, but the heat kept up well, although I took all the chaff and 
clover off, until it was nearly all fed out. We are so well pleased 
with it that we shall construct a larger silo and put up enough to 
keep our stock the year around, as our cows gained a large quantity in 
milk, and also made more and better butter as long as this silo feed 
lasted. Although we are feeding now well-cured dry corn fodder — 
cut one half inch, and bran — the cows fell off again in quantity, al- 
though the water is warmed ; the preference is in favor of the silo 
feed. At the institute last week, in Waukesha, we were asked if the 
fodder could be taken out in this way as well as when cut short, and 
if the stalks put in the manger did not go the whole length before it 
was all eaten up The bundles come out as easy as when put in — 
they were tied with rye straw, — and the cattle eat the large end of 
the stalks as greedily as the tops, and soon as all had their bundle all 
were contented. A silo need not be so expensive as some think. Mr. 
John Gould's plans which he exhibits are not patented and are free 
for any one that wants to use them. They are about as follows : For 
an ordinary size, i6 feet lumber is used, common boards, nailed to a 
set of studding, 2x6 inches, if only 8 or lo feet wide ; 2x8 or 2xio 
if 12 to 1 6 feet wide ; fastened to a sill of same size with heavy 
nails, also to the plate the same way. The first layer of boards is 
nailed crosswise to the studding, then tarred paper is put on up and 
down and well lapped, then another layer of boards to cover this 
paper same way as first layer, only taking care to break the joints. 
Thus an air-tight receptacle is made. If on the outside of the barn, 
shingle roof, and rather common or shiplap siding are used to give 
it a good appearance and finish, but in the barn no roof or floor are 
required, only the earth should be dry and the center scooped out a 
little and put around in the inside to make it air tight around or 
under the sills. The studs should be about 20 inches apart, and in 
the end next the stable — -always should be near it — cut out between 
the studding for a door to take out contents of the silo. The cut 
out boards will answer for the door by putting one sheet of thin 
paper over it and lap over the edges. The usual depth of silos is 
about 16 feet. G. P. P. 

Pewaukee, Wis. 



How TO Build _A Silo. 23 

\_Fro?n the Farmers' Review of April 2j, i888.~\ 
BEST VARIETIES OF CORN FOR ENSILAGE. 

As Prof. Whitcher, Director of the New Hampshire Experiment 
Station, is known to have given a good deal of attention to the sub- 
ject of the best varieties of corn for ensilage, with special reference 
to securing the largest amount of nutritive matter, a request to him 
for his views on the subject brought the following letter, which will 
be of practical interest to many readers in the west : 

To the Farmers' Review : In reply to your inquiry let me 
say that I do most emphatically believe that there is much to be 
gained by a judicious selection of the variety of corn to be planted 
for ensilage. It will be impossible for me here in New Hampshire to 
tell your readers what corn is best adapted to their climate and sur- 
roundings, but I may perhaps be able to suggest a few general prin- 
ciples as applicable there as here. The old standard for ensilage 
corn was tons per acre . this covered the whole ground. Men 
boasted of raising 25, 30 and 35 tons per acre. Now, a ton of ensi- 
lage means what ? First, it means 2,000 pounds, but this is not all it 
means. A certain amount of nutritive matter, and this may vary 
greatly in different varieties of corn raised side by side During the 
season of 1S86 I planted the Burrill & Whitman ensilage corn and 
by the side of it a variety of twelve rowed flint corn, such as is used 
here when planting with intention of husking. The yield was 15 to 
22, but while the B. & W. corn had only 18.40 per cent, of dry sub- 
stance, the common flint variety had 29.45 per cent., or the twenty- 
two tons of B. & W. contained 80,960 pounds of dry matter, while 
the fifteen tons of Northern flint corn had 88,350 pounds. Now the 
point of this is that in New Hampshire it is useless to select a corn 
that is so far out of its natural climate that a respectable degree of 
maturity is impossible. In some other sections this same B. & W. 
corn might mature so far as to give as great a per cent, of dry mat- 
ter as did our flint corn here. The true standard of value is not 
bushels per acre, but nutritive value per acre, and the true rule in se- 
lecting seed is to find some variety which, in the particular locality 
under consideration, will so far mature as to bring the kernel into a 
fully formed and solid condition that is past the liquid or " milky " 
stage. At this time the plant is at its best, not only in the amount 
of nutritive matter, but also in the quality of the dry substance. By 
this it will be seen that each locality must choose for itself. A corn 
admirably adapted for Ohio would fail in Maine or New Hampshire, 
not because it would not produce a large yield in tons, but because 
of the inferior quality of that yield. I am able to produce an ensi- 



24 How TO Build a Silo. 

lage the nutritive ratio of which is as ii to 7, while with the Southern 
or Western corn many seasons the ratio would be as 11 to 12. There 
is a great chance for improvement in quality of ensilage, and the 
greatest probability of advancement in its use is along this line. 

G. H. Whitcher. 
Director N. H. Exp't Sta., Hanover, N. H. 

[ From the Farmers' Review, March 7, 1888^ 
To THE Fakmers' Review : May I add a thought or two, 
gained from Kansas experience, to what J, B. L., of Shadeland, 
Ind., has said concerning ensilage, in your issue of February 22? 
To begin, then, cut your fodder for ensilage when the grain is in the 
milk (not later in this locality) and let it wilt in the field before haul- 
ing to the cutter. If you don't have a cutter that suits you, or if you 
have none at all, run your corn through a threshing machine with 
the concaves set out a little. This shreds it up in good shape for the 
silo or for bedding and the compost heap. Set your cutter to cut a 
length of stalk that is shorter than the crown of the teeth in the ani- 
mals to be fed and you will not be troubled with sore gums from 
feeding ensilage. Cut the ensilage as slowly as you can profitably. 
A foot in depth per day in the silo is as much as should be cut, and 
a smaller quantity will do better. One man will spread it and tramp 
it in the silo to a sufficient density. ' Don't weight your ensilage ; 
simply cover with a considerable quantity of some fine hay, like our 
western prairie hay if you have it. The idea that ensilage must be 
tramped into the silo by a horse or two and then covered air-tight 
with boards and weighted with a ton to the foot of surface is expen- 
sive nonsense. Don't use a stone silo unless it is lined with boards 
and an air space left between. Loss of heat is what spoils ensilage, 
and as stone is a good conductor of heat, a stone silo built entirely 
above ground will always be found to contain, next the walls, a foot 
or more of spoiled and musty ensilage. Good ensilage is "smoking 
hot," smells like a Kansas drug store, and never tastes sour. Your 
cows will tell you whether it is good or not. 

Manhattan, Kans. GiD. 



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